Back in 2004, Florida voters overwhelmingly passed a state constitutional amendment that tied increases in the state minimum wage to inflation, meaning wages would automatically increase over time without going through major legislative fights. Originally pegged at $6.15 an hour, its now risen to $8.05. Many feel that’s still not enough. …
Uber and Lyft have operated in Miami-Dade in a murky legal gray area for years. After lots of talks and false starts the Miami-Dade County Commission finally passed an ordinance yesterday to legalize the car-for-hire apps. It wasn’t even a close vote. The ordinance passed 9-2, and was widely hailed…
It turns out Kim Kardashian has been mentioned at least three times in Cuba’s tightly censored newspapers, proving there is almost no media source in the world that can resist dropping her name. Indeed, a medical column published earlier this year in Juventude Rebelde, the Communist Party’s official youth newspaper,…
It’s been a hard year already when it comes to the loss of legends, but don’t worry. Don Shula will still be kicking around. The former Miami Dolphins coach was rushed to Aventura Hospital on Monday night to undergo treatment for sleep apnea but has now been released. “Coach Shula has…
Six months after Miami Beach voters rejected a plan to demolish historic oceanfront properties in North Beach to make way for a luxury condo tower, developer Sandor Scher is back with a new proposal for the stretch known as Ocean Terrace. His new plan would only demolish one building, and…
Rosa Rey Napoles hovers over her lasagna inside the noisy lunchroom at the De Hostos Senior Center in Wynwood. Even in her late 80s, she’s vibrant and talkative. For two decades, she has walked most days from her apartment a few blocks away to this boxy pink building on NW…
Florida’s most read newspaper has swallowed the state’s print circulation runner-up (at least according to 2014 number). The Tampa Bay Times announced today that it has acquired cross-region rival The Tampa Tribune. Publication of the Tribune has stopped immediately, and while some staff will be absorbed, at least 100 layoffs…
The Heat have made it to the second round of the playoffs without having the help of one of their marquee stars since the All-Star Break. Putting Chris Bosh back in the game would instantly make the Heat the prohibitive favorites over the Toronto Raptors, and Bosh really, really wants back…
There are currently 389 inmates in Florida prisons awaiting the death penalty, the second-highest number of any state in the union. If the State Supreme Court agrees with a cadre of lawyers, every single one of them may see their death sentence whipped out replaced with life in prison without…
As if Cuba needed another dictator, fashion’s reigning tyrant Karl Lagerfeld will present Chanel’s 2017 Cruise collection in Havana tonight. It will be the first major fashion show by an international brand in Cuba in decades, but not everyone is pleased. Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has taken to Twitter multiple times…
Don’t tell the thousands of tourists and locals who hop in black Ubers or Lyfts every day in Miami, but the rideshare services are still technically illegal in Dade County. For more than two years, the tech firms and local politicians have been locked in a tug-of-war with millions of…
Adventures abound with South Florida’s most intrepid private investigator.
Rick Scott has a habit of trying to lure jobs to Florida from states with Democratic governors in quite an unfriendly fashion. So when California passed legislation that will increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021, Scott couldn’t help but swoop in. He ordered Enterprise Florida,…
Gone are the days of early March when it seemed we were getting new polls and data about the political leanings of Florida voters every other day. Since the primary, it’s been quite a while since a pollster has come along and taken the political temperature of the state. Since…
On the second day of a seven-day cruise from New York to Florida and the Bahamas last year, two young children briefly escaped from their mother’s sight and somehow landed in the pool. Within moments, both kids were yanked from the water from opposite ends of the pool. But it…
The Miami Heat needed a hero on Sunday. They got a dragon. But first, it’s worth recounting how they got there. On Friday night, it was Dwyane Wade’s majestical feats of awesome in a win-or-go-home game in Charlotte that put the Heat in yet another Game 7 on Sunday. The…
We’ve seen some things on Miami roads, but maybe nothing quite as crazy as this. Video has emerged of what appears to be a road rage incident that occurred on Tuesday down in Kendall in which one man wound up taking a ride on the hood of a white VW while…
The state government is firmly controlled by Republicans, but that doesn’t mean that Governor Rick Scott gets whatever he wants. Scott, at times, has a notable aversion to compromise even with others in his party and is no stranger to angering other Tallahassee Republicans. Usually, this puts him at odds with…
For fourteen straight years at least one Miami Hurricanes player was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. It’s an astounding record that no other team seems poised to break anytime soon (Alabama currently has the longest active streak at seven consecutive years). Still, it was painful back…
A lot of weird things happen in Florida each week. On Friday, we’re here to bring you the weirdest. This week: a man warns police that Shirley MacClaine will command her personal army of fans to burn down Key West, a fan of Norse mythology takes on police on his own,…
For many daughters and sons of Cuban exiles in Miami, Cuba has long been an untouchable place. In many families, mere mention of the island conjured bitter memories of shattered dreams and heartbreak. Travel to Cuba was taboo. But that’s beginning to change. Fueled by the possibilities of rapprochement with…
A funny thing happened on the way to the Dolphins 13th pick in the first round of last night’s NFL Draft. Draft analysis and reporters truly had no idea what the ‘Fins would do in the first round. The team had a lot of needs to fill, and a lot…
